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[Spring Drive]

Blizzard Entertainment is suing Bossland, the maker of the popular Overwatch cheat tool "Watchover Tyrant" and several other game cheats. Among other things, the developer accuses the German company of various forms of copyright infringement and unfair competition.

Over the years video game developer Blizzard Entertainment has published many popular game titles.

Most recently the company released the new first-person shooter “Overwatch,” which became an instant bestseller. The game received rave reviews and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue during its first weeks on sale.

While most Overwatch players stick to the rules, there’s also a small group that tries to game the system. By using cheats such as the Watchover Tyrant, they play with an advantage over regular users.

Blizzard is not happy with the Overwatch cheat and has filed a lawsuit against the German maker, Bossland GMBH, at a federal court in California. Bossland also sells cheats for various other titles such as World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 and Heroes of the Storm, which are mentioned in the complaint as well.

The game developer accuses the cheat maker of various forms of copyright infringement, unfair competition, and violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision.

According to Blizzard these bots and cheats also cause millions of dollars in lost sales, as they ruin the games for many legitimate players.

“Defendants’ sale and distribution of the Bossland Hacks in the United States has caused Blizzard to lose millions or tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and to suffer irreparable damage to its goodwill and reputation.”

“Moreover, by releasing ‘Overwatch Cheat’ just days after the release of ‘Overwatch,’ Defendants are attempting to destroy or irreparably harm that game before it even has had a chance to fully flourish.”

The Overwatch cheat has already become relatively popular in a short period of time. Thousands of players are reportedly using the tool, which enables them to display the locations and health status of hidden or obscured opponents.

Blizzard believes that by developing the cheats, Bossland has infringed on its copyrights in various ways. Among other things, the complaint accuses the German cheat maker of contributory copyright infringement.

“They have done so by enabling and encouraging third-party ‘freelancers’ or contractors to fraudulently obtain access to the Blizzard Games and then, having done so, to engage in unauthorized reproduction of the Blizzard Games,” the complaint reads.

“They also have done so by enabling users of the Bossland Hacks (particularly the Overwatch Cheat) to use the software to create derivative works, such as the dynamic screen overlay generated by the Overwatch Cheat,” it adds.

Blizzard notes that it has already taken action against thousands of cheaters. In response, Bossland announced that they would make their tool harder to be detected, which suggests that they intentionally violate the game’s EULA.

The game developer adds that the various cheats and bots may have generated millions in revenue for the German company, and demands compensation for its losses.

“Defendants not only know that their conduct is unlawful, but they engage in that conduct with the deliberate intent to harm Blizzard and its business. Blizzard is entitled to monetary damages, injunctive and other equitable relief, and punitive damages against Defendants,” the complaint reads.

Aside from the Overwatch cheat, the current case is very similar to one filed against a freelancer who works for Bossland. This case never really took off and was dismissed earlier this year.

TF spoke with Bossland CEO Zwetan Letschew, who informed us that his company hasn’t received the complaint at its office yet. However, they are no stranger to Blizzard’s legal actions.

“There are over 10 ongoing legal battles in Germany already,” Letschew says, noting that it’s strange that Blizzard decided to take action in the US after all these years.

“Now Blizzard wants to try it in the US too. One could ask himself, why now and not back in 2011. Why did Rod Rigole [Blizzard Deputy General Counsel] even bother to fly to Munich and drive with two other lawyers 380 km to Zwickau. Why not just sue us in the US five years ago?”

While Letschew still isn’t convinced that the lawsuit is even real, he doesn’t fear any legal action in the U.S. According to the CEO, a California court has no jurisdiction over his company, as it has no ties with the United States.

In addition, he is supported by a lawsuit his company won in Germany against Blizzard earlier this year. In that case, which dealt with the Heroes of the Storm bot, Blizzard was ordered to pay Bossland’s legal costs and attorney fees.

The full complaint filed at the Central District Court of California is available here (pdf).

https://torrentfreak.com/blizzard-sues-overwatch-cheat-maker-for-copyright-infringement-160704/

 

[MekaDragon]

That's the way, Blizzard, that's the way.

 

[Zackat]

Burn them all Blizzard.

Hate cheaters.

 

[AllGamer]

Cheating sucks but it doesn't look like Blizzard is going to win this.

 

[KZXcellent]

Great news. Cheaters ruin games. I hope they end up winning or can at least patch the game so stuff like this doesn't work.

 

[Foxxsoxx]

Justice.

 

[undu]

“They also have done so by enabling users of the Bossland Hacks (particularly the Overwatch Cheat) to use the software to create derivative works, such as the dynamic screen overlay generated by the Overwatch Cheat,” it adds.

What a weird way to use copyright law, an overlay considered derivative work. If the case succeeds what will happen to steam, FCAT, FRAPS, GEDOSATO or ENB overlays? They'll be able to be targets of litigation cases?

In response, Bossland announced that they would make their tool harder to be detected, which suggests that they intentionally violate the game’s EULA.

I thought EULAs weren't legally binding in the EU (where the cheat-making company is based on)

I understand that Blizzard has to combat cheaters, but this is a really weird way to do it, as it may have unintended. far-reaching consequences, as I see it.

 

[Nibel]

DRAG 'EM

 

[Chainsawkitten]

Do they actually think they can win this or is it more of a "we're gonna sue so if you think about developing cheats for our games you better have the legal resources"?

Cheating is shit but if this is copyright infringement then so is all mods/community patches.

 

[Yoshi]

I don't get how this is infringing copyright or how they can argue that the company directly aims to damage Blizzard. It's actually in their best interest that Overwatch sells as good as possible.

 

[TwiztidElf]

I still don't understand why cheat?
Total net effect: harm Overwatch.
Do the cheaters really just hate Blizzard and Overwatch?
There can't possibly be any fun or satisfaction from cheating?

 

[Bishop89]

 

[baphomet]

Doesn't seem like Blizzard knows what to do if they're trying to sue them for copyright infringement.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

I don't get how this is infringing copyright or how they can argue that the company directly aims to damage Blizzard. It's actually in their best interest that Overwatch sells as good as possible.

Doesn't seem like Blizzard knows what to do if they're trying to sue them for copyright infringement.

 

[Yokai]

Do they actually think they can win this or is it more of a "we're gonna sue so if you think about developing cheats for our games you better have the legal resources"?

Cheating is shit but if this is copyright infringement then so is all mods/community patches.

Yeah, honestly as much as I hate cheaters, I think blizzard winning this court case would actually be more legal standing against modding, which would certainly be a bad precedent.

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

I still don't understand why cheat?
Total net effect: harm Overwatch.
Do the cheaters really just hate Blizzard and Overwatch?
There can't possibly be any fun or satisfaction from cheating?

It's pathetic but it's true that a lot of people gain satisfaction by appearing to be superior in video games using all kinds of cheats, hacks.

I can't help but pitying those cheating fools.

 

[Omnii-chan]

Ho, look at that, they even charge for the cheats. Yeah, they are going down.

Good, fucking hate cheaters. Hope they have to pay out the ass.

 

[Zomba13]

While I hate cheating and cheaters I don't think this is right. It's like suing a mod maker. Granted, most mod makers don't sell their mods but then they also contain copyrighted assets or code and use the game engine.

Also I don't think cheating has a huge impact on lost sales. Yes, it might stop people from playing and stop them from gambling on your boxes but in order to be affected by a cheater they need to have first bought the game. Otherwise it's just from word of mouth and then you could say a bad review causes loss of sale.

I don't want Blizzard to win because then developers could just shut down any mod they don't like because "copyright". Fuck cheaters, ban them, make their copy worthless, update the anti-cheat detection so it gets better at finding these and blocking their effectiveness.

I don't get how this is infringing copyright or how they can argue that the company directly aims to damage Blizzard. It's actually in their best interest that Overwatch sells as good as possible.

Also yeah, you can't say they are infringing on your rights and harming your sales when they literally need your game to sell well so they can sell their product and make money. If they were intentionally harming Blizzards sales then they are harming their own sales and that is kind of a stupid thing for a business to do.

 

[Spring Drive]

Ho, look at that, they even charge for the cheats. Yeah, they are going down.

Good, fucking hate cheaters. Hope they have to pay out the ass.

Why else would this company make the cheats? Also they need money to keep modifying it in order to stay ahead of Blizzard's detection tools

While I hate cheating and cheaters I don't think this is right. It's like suing a mod maker. Granted, most mod makers don't sell their mods but then they also contain copyrighted assets or code and use the game engine.

Also I don't think cheating has a huge impact on lost sales. Yes, it might stop people from playing and stop them from gambling on your boxes but in order to be affected by a cheater they need to have first bought the game. Otherwise it's just from word of mouth and then you could say a bad review causes loss of sale.

I don't want Blizzard to win because then developers could just shut down any mod they don't like because "copyright". Fuck cheaters, ban them, make their copy worthless, update the anti-cheat detection so it gets better at finding these and blocking their effectiveness.

But a regular mod wouldn't cause financial harm. IANAL but I thought you needed a prejudice to win a case...?

 

[SirPinkyNose]

Erh suing over mods seems to be too excessive.
Cheats are game mods at heart which make the game easier to play. Idk what this will lead too if Blizzard won.

 

[OnimaruXLR]

I don't get how this is infringing copyright or how they can argue that the company directly aims to damage Blizzard. It's actually in their best interest that Overwatch sells as good as possible.

You don't see how cheating can potentially harm a multiplayer online game?

 

[Freshmaker]

Cheating sucks but it doesn't look like Blizzard is going to win this.

I am wondering how this differs from the Nintendo vs Game Genie case. Nintendo also tried to claim copyright infringement.

 

[truestatic]

I'm all for banning cheaters, but I can't help but be skeptical about the precedent set by pursuing copyright infringement cases against people attempting to reverse engineer, modify parts of, or create overlays for the game. I feel like if they won such a fight it could have further reaching effects than just cheaters.

But I'll be the first to admit I'm 100% speaking from my butt, so maybe I'm just being paranoid and delusional.

 

[Yoshi]

You don't see how cheating can potentially harm a multiplayer online game?

I can see that, but I claim that hurting the game's sales is not in their interest. It also does not matter to them if the game is still fun to those who don't cheat, but a reduction of sales is absolutely not in their interest. It can be a collateral damage, but not their intent.

 

[Maledict]

I'm all for banning cheaters, but I can't help but be skeptical about the precedent set by pursuing copyright infringement cases against people attempting to reverse engineer, modify parts of, or create overlays for the game. I feel like if they won such a fight it could have further reaching effects than just cheaters.

But I'll be the first to admit I'm 100% speaking from my butt, so maybe I'm just being paranoid and delusional.

Haven't Blizzard been doing for this over a decade? They successfully sued WoW bot hacks at least under what I thought was a similar argument?

 

[Spring Drive]

I can see that, but I claim that hurting the game's sales is not in their interest. It also does not matter to them if the game is still fun to those who don't cheat, but a reduction of sales is absolutely not in their interest. It can be a collateral damage, but not their intent.

That's what parasitism is. You do make profit but you're slowly killing the host organism

 

[anothertech]

Here's hoping the fckers burn and die. Cheaters ruin all. Go Blizzard.

 

[Brakke]

I can see that, but I claim that hurting the game's sales is not in their interest. It also does not matter to them if the game is still fun to those who don't cheat, but a reduction of sales is absolutely not in their interest. It can be a collateral damage, but not their intent.

It's a pretty weak claim tho. The dev cost on the game dwarfs the dev cost on this cheat. The cheat group's business model isn't the same as Blizzard's, and their incentive structure is not the same.

 

[DSix]

Cheaters are scum, but until there is a law specifically against cheating for unfair advantage in online games, there's not much blizzard can legally do about it.
The copyright infringement angle would set a very bad precedent if they win, it would be very dangerous for any mod makers.

 

[Ferrio]

Erh suing over mods seems to be too excessive.
Cheats are game mods at heart which make the game easier to play. Idk what this will lead too if Blizzard won.

Mods that the other players don't agree to and can ruin their game, making them lose out on money.

 

[mclem]

Cheaters are scum, but until there is a law specifically against cheating for unfair advantage in online games, there's not much blizzard can legally do about it.

I think the interesting part of this question is on the server side. Do Blizzard have the right to demand to know if a compromised client is asking to join their servers? Is falsely claiming to be a legitimate client a breach of a copyright act?

 

[Dahaka]

Here's hoping the fckers burn and die. Cheaters ruin all. Go Blizzard.

 

[Burning Justice]

As much as I hate online cheating... making cheats for games should not be copyright infringement. Unless they're actually distributing copyrighted material, I feel like it would set a dangerous precedent if Blizzard wins this...

 

[bennibop]

That's right Blizzard kick cheaters out!!

 

[SteveO409]

While Letschew still isn’t convinced that the lawsuit is even real, he doesn’t fear any legal action in the U.S. According to the CEO, a California court has no jurisdiction over his company, as it has no ties with the United States.

In addition, he is supported by a lawsuit his company won in Germany against Blizzard earlier this year. In that case, which dealt with the Heroes of the Storm bot, Blizzard was ordered to pay Bossland’s legal costs and attorney fees.

so basically blizzard is doing this for the PR. The owner can just chill at home and could care less about going to the States

 

[TheHellsLord]

Cheating is a bad practice - I think we can all agree on that.

However there aren't really legal protections in place for it. Reverse Engineering definitely is a legal practice as long as copyrighted assets and code aren't used. The angle Blizzard is coming from is that by injecting additional stuff like overlays a "derivative work" is being created.

As much as I am for them winning against the producers of a cheating tool I also feel that it might be a dangerous precedent when looking at other modifications.

The better avenue would likely be to protect the game engine from such code injections in the first place. Even though many don't like that either as again: it would in all likelihood prevent any kind of modding that isn't developer sanctioned as well.

 

[geordiemp]

I only play online games on console as its a level playing field and walled garden.

Blizzard is right, and in fact could go further as the ability to more easily cheat actually must hurt adoption of some PC games.

 

[Maledict]

Cheaters are scum, but until there is a law specifically against cheating for unfair advantage in online games, there's not much blizzard can legally do about it.
The copyright infringement angle would set a very bad precedent if they win, it would be very dangerous for any mod makers.

Blizzard have been successfully sueing cheats and bot makers for over a decade now.

 

[spazimoose]

I don't think Blizzard has a great chance of winning this lawsuit but I don't think winning is their goal here. This sends a message to anyone making and selling cheat programs. If you mess with Blizzard then you're in for an expensive and lengthy legal battle.

I kind of hope Blizzard gets a temporary injunction against them and then just stalls forever. Give the cheaters a taste of their own medicine by cheating the legal system.

 

[KarneeKarnay]

As much as I am against cheaters I don't see Blizzard winning this, nor do I want them to.

They aren't harming the game sales. They need it to sell well. Instead they should be making it harder for these cheats to work. This is ultimately more against the modding community than anything else.

In-fact what if this is just a fact finding expedition. Blizzard want to see how they are able to make the cheats work on this system, so they are suing for copyright. They claim that their code is somehow being used, so that they can see the cheat companies code.

However things are different across the pond. In the US the burden of proof is on the defendant to prove they didn't steal anything. In most of Europe the case is on the prosecution to prove that their work was stolen.

Not sure how this will play out, but Blizzard should be spending their time working on improving the game cheat buster instead of this.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

The DMCA is a pile of poop, and trying to hold someone legally liable for video game cheating is silly. I guess if someone wins a tournament or something and is proven to have cheated then I'd be ok with Judge Judy making them return the prize money, but that's about it.

 

[witchedwiz]

Do they actually think they can win this or is it more of a "we're gonna sue so if you think about developing cheats for our games you better have the legal resources"?

Cheating is shit but if this is copyright infringement then so is all mods/community patches.

i don't know...
calling derivative copyright infringment for an overlay that use NO native "resource" but does most likely simply abuse injection... is REALLY, REALLY a stretch...

not that i'm unhappy...
because last friday night i've been killed by a mercy that either was TERRIBLY good or I don't know what...
in a map where i could *barely* identify the figure of the mercy, while USING widowmaker's scope, I got killed with 5 pistol shot from mercy...
When she shot 2 times and those first two shots hit me, i was like "for real???"? When she shot 3 more time after i moved slightly thinking that it was a fluke, and i got again hit i was like...
bro, i could barely identify your figure USING THE SCOPE, how the the flying sausage did you shoot 5 times and you hit me 5 times using mercy without any "vision" assist champion (e.g. widowmaker's ultimate that give you heat vision, etc) when i was unsure that you were there using widowmaker scope on a frigging 28" monitor???

 

[texhnolyze]

So, does it mean that Blizzard has thrown the towels for their anti cheating measures?

What's stopping other cheat makers from making their own version of cheating tool?

This is not the solution, Blizzard.

 

[Maledict]

So, does it mean that Blizzard has thrown the towels for their anti cheating measures?

What's stopping other cheat makers from making their own version of cheating tool?

This is not the solution, Blizzard.

Blizzard have been suing bot makers and cheaters for copyright infringement for *years*. Successfully.

There is no slippery slope. It hasn't stopped them using their own anti-cheat stuff.

I guess it's because Overwatch is new and has drawn fresh players in that a lot of people aren't aware of their previous lawsuits.

 

[SirPinkyNose]

Mods that the other players don't agree to and can ruin their game, making them lose out on money.

That's not how copyright infringement works tho.

 

[Enter The 36 Chambers]

Buying cheats for a videogame is fucking pathetic. I can't understand what enjoyment you get from cheating a game where the whole premise is team based competition.

The same people doing this are the same ones who try make up the scores playing football as kids. Or swipe extra money playing monopoly.

Losers.

 

[Justinh]

Didn't they do something like this for someone selling WoW bots?

Seriously though... good.

Cheaters in online games can seriously eff off.

That said, I'm sure Blizzard has knowledgeable lawyers, and if they're suing for copyright infringement then they likely have a leg to stand on.

 

[Spring Drive]

Didn't they do something like this for someone selling WoW bots?

Seriously though... good.

Cheaters in online games can seriously eff off.

That said, I'm sure Blizzard has knowledgeable lawyers, and if they're suing for copyright infringement then they likely have a leg to stand on.

Yeahn, same company: https://torrentfreak.com/blizzard-sues-bot-maker-for-copyright-infringement-151111/

 

[Chairmanchuck]

That's not how copyright infringement works tho.

Especially not German one.

According to German copyright, thats not an infringement. You could sue them for other things though, but using copyright to sue them is the wrong approach.

Spoiler

German Media law graduate here

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Blizzard have been suing bot makers and cheaters for copyright infringement for *years*. Successfully.

There is no slippery slope. It hasn't stopped them using their own anti-cheat stuff.

I guess it's because Overwatch is new and has drawn fresh players in that a lot of people aren't aware of their previous lawsuits.

Elaborate on the successfully and in similar circumstances as this case? Blizzard isn't suing in a local court which is already shady, is suing based on a document that might very well not be legally binding to the accused (depending on if it tries to take away your rights).